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William Hunter - Finding Free Speech: A British Soldier’s Son Who Became an Early American
In June 1798, President John Adams signed the now infamous Alien & Sedition Acts to suppress political dissent.
Facing imminent personal risks, a gutsy Kentucky newspaper editor ran the first editorial denouncing the law's attempt to stifle the freedom of the press.
Almost immediately, government lawyers recommended his arrest and prosecution.
That editor was William Hunter, amazingly, the son of a British soldier.
During the American Revolution, he accompanied his father on a campaign to fight the American Rebels. Witnessing first-hand the terrors of combat and twice experiencing capture, Hunter wrote the only surviving account written by a child of a British soldier during the American Revolution. Previously unknown, the journal is one of the most important document discoveries in recent years.
Remarkably immigrating to an enemy country, Hunter started the second newspaper west of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania. Moving to Kentucky's capital, Hunter spoke his mind as a newspaper editor, took entrepreneurial risks, and helped start educational and civic institutions.
Particularly compelling, Hunter overcame two major personal setbacks that tarnished his character and left him bankrupt. Each time, he tenaciously persevered and regained prominent stature.
Later, Hunter became an elected Kentucky representative, a staunch Andrew Jackson supporter, and moved to Washington, DC, to root out fraud and waste in his administration. Beyond the well-known founders, William Hunter represents a previously underappreciated community leader who made essential contributions to developing democratic and civic institutions in Early America.
Facing imminent personal risks, a gutsy Kentucky newspaper editor ran the first editorial denouncing the law's attempt to stifle the freedom of the press.
Almost immediately, government lawyers recommended his arrest and prosecution.
That editor was William Hunter, amazingly, the son of a British soldier.
During the American Revolution, he accompanied his father on a campaign to fight the American Rebels. Witnessing first-hand the terrors of combat and twice experiencing capture, Hunter wrote the only surviving account written by a child of a British soldier during the American Revolution. Previously unknown, the journal is one of the most important document discoveries in recent years.
Remarkably immigrating to an enemy country, Hunter started the second newspaper west of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania. Moving to Kentucky's capital, Hunter spoke his mind as a newspaper editor, took entrepreneurial risks, and helped start educational and civic institutions.
Particularly compelling, Hunter overcame two major personal setbacks that tarnished his character and left him bankrupt. Each time, he tenaciously persevered and regained prominent stature.
Later, Hunter became an elected Kentucky representative, a staunch Andrew Jackson supporter, and moved to Washington, DC, to root out fraud and waste in his administration. Beyond the well-known founders, William Hunter represents a previously underappreciated community leader who made essential contributions to developing democratic and civic institutions in Early America.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
300 pages, Paperback
Published January 21, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2023
This unique history holds some surprises for historians. It is based on the only surviving account by a child of a British soldier during the American Revolution. William Hunter was seven years old when his father was sent to North America to fight against the American rebels. Not widely known to historians, the families of British military at that time traveled with the soldiers and were also held prisoners with them if they were captured. Willliam Hunter was incarcerated twice during his father's tenure--once held in Pennsylvania, and later, captured by the French while traveling along the Normandy coastline on the return to England.
As a teen, William returned to England with his family and intended to live there and provide for his family. However, work was scarce and William, following Enlightenment thinkers, turned against the classist, monarchial ideas in England and embraced the republican, freedom of speech politics in America. He returned to America and lived the rest of his life there, as a loyal American.
The author of this book theorizes that William, in his later years, wrote the memoir of his childhood in America as the son of a British soldier, in order to reveal to his family the breadth and depth of his backstory. After William became thoroughly American he majorly hid the facts of his British origin and his father's service in the British army, and wrote the journal in his later years to be better known to his progeny. The journal ends upon William's return to America, as his family would have known his history from that point on.
Formal education for William was seldom and piecemeal, but he loved to read and was a keen observer of people and events he witnessed. His self-education served him well during a lifetime of excellence in various careers, though he never became wealthy and was often in debt. His careers ranged from printing and publishing, to accounting, to merchandising, to politics, and government service as an auditor for the Federal treasury.
William became well-known as a publisher in Kentucky who espoused republican and western ideals, free speech, and abolition. Journalism in the early 19th century had financial as well as political boundaries. William was widely known during his publishing career and garnered favor as the official state printer. He also gained political enemies as well as allies. Notable historic issues and events during William's tenure as a Kentucky newspaper publisher include the following:
1)taking a brave stand espousing free speech vs. President John Adams's Alien and Sedition acts in 1798; 2) publishing treatises and books in favor of abolition of slavery; 3)"breaking" the story of the return of Lewis and Clark after their journey to the Pacific; 4) reporting details of the controversy surrounding Aaron Burr's possible collusion with the Spanish to gain American territory.
The financial hardships after the Panic of 1819 led to William joining the Debt Relief party. He ran for election to the Kentucky legislature and served in that office for 60 important days, ending at the end of the session in January, 1825.
Debt and controversies eventually led to William, with his wife and children, leaving Kentucky and becoming a supporter of Andrew Jackson. A good friend of William's was appointed as a Treasury auditor, who in turn hired William as an assistant in the Treasury office. William served in this capacity in Washington DC under seven presidents and worked there the rest of his life. He died at age 86 and is buried in the congressional cemetery.
An unexpected perk from reading this book was learning more about the history of Kentucky, my native state. William Hunter was in the thick of it from late 1700s until 1829, so I learned much about the early history of my native state.
The author did an amazing amount of research to confirm the authorship of this very special British "child's" journal and piecing it together with historical information about the adult William Hunter and the events encircling and involving his life in America.
I would have given this book 5 stars except for the terrific amount of typos and errors riddling this book and puzzling the reader. There are wrong words, sloppy and unedited sentences, incomplete punctuation, proper names spelled different ways, and one erroneous fact that I noticed: in a short bio of Amos Kendell (William's friend who recruited him to the national treasury office), it is stated that Kendell was a major contributor to establishing Gallaudet University in Washington DC, to educate "blind" people. Gallaudet University is a college for the deaf.
As a teen, William returned to England with his family and intended to live there and provide for his family. However, work was scarce and William, following Enlightenment thinkers, turned against the classist, monarchial ideas in England and embraced the republican, freedom of speech politics in America. He returned to America and lived the rest of his life there, as a loyal American.
The author of this book theorizes that William, in his later years, wrote the memoir of his childhood in America as the son of a British soldier, in order to reveal to his family the breadth and depth of his backstory. After William became thoroughly American he majorly hid the facts of his British origin and his father's service in the British army, and wrote the journal in his later years to be better known to his progeny. The journal ends upon William's return to America, as his family would have known his history from that point on.
Formal education for William was seldom and piecemeal, but he loved to read and was a keen observer of people and events he witnessed. His self-education served him well during a lifetime of excellence in various careers, though he never became wealthy and was often in debt. His careers ranged from printing and publishing, to accounting, to merchandising, to politics, and government service as an auditor for the Federal treasury.
William became well-known as a publisher in Kentucky who espoused republican and western ideals, free speech, and abolition. Journalism in the early 19th century had financial as well as political boundaries. William was widely known during his publishing career and garnered favor as the official state printer. He also gained political enemies as well as allies. Notable historic issues and events during William's tenure as a Kentucky newspaper publisher include the following:
1)taking a brave stand espousing free speech vs. President John Adams's Alien and Sedition acts in 1798; 2) publishing treatises and books in favor of abolition of slavery; 3)"breaking" the story of the return of Lewis and Clark after their journey to the Pacific; 4) reporting details of the controversy surrounding Aaron Burr's possible collusion with the Spanish to gain American territory.
The financial hardships after the Panic of 1819 led to William joining the Debt Relief party. He ran for election to the Kentucky legislature and served in that office for 60 important days, ending at the end of the session in January, 1825.
Debt and controversies eventually led to William, with his wife and children, leaving Kentucky and becoming a supporter of Andrew Jackson. A good friend of William's was appointed as a Treasury auditor, who in turn hired William as an assistant in the Treasury office. William served in this capacity in Washington DC under seven presidents and worked there the rest of his life. He died at age 86 and is buried in the congressional cemetery.
An unexpected perk from reading this book was learning more about the history of Kentucky, my native state. William Hunter was in the thick of it from late 1700s until 1829, so I learned much about the early history of my native state.
The author did an amazing amount of research to confirm the authorship of this very special British "child's" journal and piecing it together with historical information about the adult William Hunter and the events encircling and involving his life in America.
I would have given this book 5 stars except for the terrific amount of typos and errors riddling this book and puzzling the reader. There are wrong words, sloppy and unedited sentences, incomplete punctuation, proper names spelled different ways, and one erroneous fact that I noticed: in a short bio of Amos Kendell (William's friend who recruited him to the national treasury office), it is stated that Kendell was a major contributor to establishing Gallaudet University in Washington DC, to educate "blind" people. Gallaudet University is a college for the deaf.
July 16, 2024
William Hunter Finding Free Speech
.
A recently discovered journal and extensive research provide the reader of William Hunter Finding Free Speech a fresh perspective on American life in the early days of our Republic. Throughout the book, liberal firsthand recollections add authenticity.
William was the son of a British soldier. The family traveled with William’s father’s regiment and William lived in major cities, including New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York City, and Montreal, Canada. William gives an account of his first day in school in Montreal as well as the hardship suffered by British captives and their families. William witnessed the privations suffered by the rebels and experienced the suffering of the British soldiers and their families during the harsh, bitter revolutionary winters.
William’s family returned to England where William began a printing apprenticeship. William eventually returned to America where he hoped for better career opportunities and a more welcoming social and political environment. Many of the issues he faced as a publisher in the late 1700s and early 1800s would be recognized by a publisher today.
The book will be of interest to a reader interested in the life of an ordinary man who experienced the early days of our Republic.
.
A recently discovered journal and extensive research provide the reader of William Hunter Finding Free Speech a fresh perspective on American life in the early days of our Republic. Throughout the book, liberal firsthand recollections add authenticity.
William was the son of a British soldier. The family traveled with William’s father’s regiment and William lived in major cities, including New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York City, and Montreal, Canada. William gives an account of his first day in school in Montreal as well as the hardship suffered by British captives and their families. William witnessed the privations suffered by the rebels and experienced the suffering of the British soldiers and their families during the harsh, bitter revolutionary winters.
William’s family returned to England where William began a printing apprenticeship. William eventually returned to America where he hoped for better career opportunities and a more welcoming social and political environment. Many of the issues he faced as a publisher in the late 1700s and early 1800s would be recognized by a publisher today.
The book will be of interest to a reader interested in the life of an ordinary man who experienced the early days of our Republic.
March 25, 2022
This is a microhistory par excellence. This study is largely based off the only extant journal of a son or daughter of a British soldier who fought during the American War of Independence. While not a significant or even secondary historical actor, Hunter's life intersects and overlaps with a number of important historical processes and phenomena. Scholars and those interested in republicanism, print capitalism, westward expansion during the Early American Republic, religious history, and the development of Jacksonian democracy will find valuable insights. Like History with a capital H, William Hunter's life embodies multiple strands of often contradictory elements. In this respect, he provides a unique mirror into our distant past.
April 7, 2024
Eugene A. Procknow brings the American Revolution to life from a fresh perspective. Based on the journal of William Hunter, the son of a British soldier fighting the American Rebels, this immaculately researched book tells a tale that we’ve not heard before. Women’s and children’s roles and the trials of military life on both sides of the fight are illuminated, inspiring the desire to turn the page and learn more about William’s interesting experiences in journalism, manufacturing, and politics after the war. Truly a compelling and worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews